5 things to know about ‘Star Trek: The Video Game’

Thursday

Apr 11, 2013 at 12:57 PM

Marc SaltzmanUSA TODAY

You don’t need to be a Trekkie to know a new Star Trek video game is about to beam to retail on April 23.You’ve probably heard that Paramount and Namco Bandai’s Star Trek: The Video Game is a third-person shooter that lets you take control over Kirk and Spock in a two-player co-op (cooperative) mode. The game is set in the same 23rd century world as the theatrical reboot.This original adventure — designed for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC — was penned by BAFTA Award-winning writer Marianne Krawczyk (God of War).But there’s a fair bit about this hotly-anticipated game that you’re likely not aware of — so USA TODAY caught up with Brian Miller, executive producer and senior vice president at Paramount Pictures, to share some lesser-known facts.The sounds of ‘Star Trek’More than 3,500 lines of dialog were recorded for the game, with voice-over sessions taking place in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and New Zealand. The entire crew from 2009’s Star Trek is in the game: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin and John Cho.The game’s soundtrack was recorded by a live 100-piece orchestra, says Miller. “While many video games have elaborate synthesized scores, Oscar-winning film composer Michael Giacchino and his team led a creative process for the game that resulted in a completely new orchestral score recorded last winter in Europe,” he says.Paying homage to classic ‘Star Trek’There are homages to the series throughout Star Trek: The Video Game. In addition to re-introducing the Gorn, the classic series episodes “Arena” and “Amok Time” directly inspired level design and dialog in the game. Sharp-eyed viewers will also notice 3-D chess and a Tribble or two.“Of course what makes Star Trek special is the relationships between the characters,” adds Miller. “For this game, the writers made sure that the banter between Kirk and Spock and the rest of the crew was not only spot on and true to the new films, but also took inspiration from the classic series and movies that continue to inspire fans.”

The return of the GornIt’s the first time Kirk and the Gorn have appeared together in 46 years. Though they appeared in just one episode of the original TV series Star Trek, the lizard-like and vicious Gorn have become a fan-favorite villain.“As soon as we began thinking of who the villain would be, the Gorn jumped to the top of the list,” says Miller. With the Gorn as the bad guys, this allowed for Paramount and the developer to expand on the entire Gorn species. The game includes 15 different types of Gorn, ranging from low level rushers and initiates; larger Brutes, Enforcers and Sentinels; and even 3 types of female Gorn, each with unique offensive and defensive abilities.Explains Miller: “While the Gorn were updated and expanded for the game, the classic Gorn eye design can be seen in the Gorn Rushers, and the classic Gorn Captain has been paid tribute to in the Gorn Champion.”

See the Enterprise like never beforeThe Starship Enterprise that you see in the game uses the same exact digital model that ILM created for the films, says Miller. “Not only are areas of the Enterprise recreated exactly as they appear in the films, you’ll also get the opportunity to explore sections of the ship that have never been seen before.” Some of these new areas include general crew quarters, the inner turbolift tubes and the atmospheric generator control room.

Saving the best Gorn for last“When it came time to announce the game to the world, Paramount Pictures and developer Digital Extremes created a demo for the 2011 E3 show in Los Angeles,” begins Miller. ” But the demo shown did not include any Gorn at all — in fact, we created an unnamed decoy enemy for the demo just so we could hold onto the reveal of the Gorn until the 2012 E3 show.” Surprise!